Oh, Donna... The Nomenclature of Girls & Boys in B.C. Schools

In a typical homeroom in a typical British Columbia high school in the mid-1960s, many of the girls would have answered to Donna, Brenda, Linda, Sandra and Susan.

Many boys in the class would have answered to Dave, Bob (or Bobby), Mike, Rick (or Ricky) and Johnny.

A generation later, in the 1990s, many of the young women in British Columbia's secondary schools were named Jennifer, Amanda, Sarah, Melissa, and Lisa.

Young men in the 'Nineties were called Michael (not Mike), David (not Dave), Christopher, Ryan and Jason.

Herewith the top ten names for newborn girls and boys for selected years over the past half century:

Popular names by year